Lynn Strong

In Haroun and the Study of Mischief…

“Don’t get a torch too close to his djellaba.”

“It might catch fire?”

“You might see it.”

Venerable Haroun, the blind saluqi priest of the dog-headed god Yepuet, has come to the wild and collarless Tel-Bastet, the City of Cats, for an education in mischief. 

And Haroun has never met a crime of fashion he wouldn’t commit.

Shai Madhur, the disabled human priest of Upaja, thought accepting Haroun’s leash meant being Haroun’s seeing-eye human. He wasn’t prepared for the political machinations… or for Haroun’s sense of humor.

When a kind prophet-prince goes missing, Haroun smells iniquity in the air. (Iniquity, it turns out, smells like kumiss spilled on a tomcat in dire need of a bath.) 

The problem with everyone in Tel-Bastet knowing what a Good Boy their Shai Madhur is, is that people keep trying to rescue him, whether he needs it or not. Not that he’s complaining, exactly. But Madhur swears he is never going carousing again… no matter how soulful Haroun’s puppydog eyes are.

With a splash of Studio Ghibli, a sprinkle of Roshani Chokshi, and a dash of Terry Pratchett, when the cats and dogs need to learn to live together, Haroun and Madhur take on the difference between what is seen and what is true.

(378 pages, including 50 pages of bonus recipes!)

Looking for more?

Haroun and the Study of Mischief is a standalone book set in the same world of the Catsprowl as Chai and Cat-tales and Chai and Charmcraft. Shai Madhur, Asharan, and the shahzada appear in all three, but you don’t need to have read them all to enjoy Haroun and his dedication to sniffing out Iniquity (and/or kumiss).

Reader joy:

“Sometimes, you need a romp. This book combined sharp observations, gentle absurdity, and the warmth of community.
This line slayed me, for all the times I’ve felt overwhelmed and still kept going: ‘We are who we had available.’”
–From Rachel on Bluesky

“I will devour, literally and figuratively, anything Lynn Strong writes, recipes included (I cannot wait to give some of them a go).”

–From Bridget on GoodReads

“This is unquestionably one of the very best books I’ve ever read… This warm, enchanting book made me laugh with sheer delight over and over again. And the characters touched my heart so many times that I cannot wait for more stories of their adventures, great or small. If you enjoy a comforting read that can surprise you with its humanity every bit as much as its magic and the fascinating other folk that populate this world, pick up Haroun and the Study of Mischief today. You won’t want to put it down until you’ve savored every page of this wildly charming novel!”
–From Matthew on GoodReads

“This was a really fun and light-hearted read. The world-building was fantastic, the setting felt really unique, and the character dynamics were amazing. I really liked how different all the characters were, they had distinct personalities, and played various roles in the narrative.”
–From ech0reads on GoodReads

“I was immediately drawn to this book due to the representation flooding the pages – We have a disabled character that has genuine and relatable struggles due to this, needing to occasionally be carried because of pain, but it’s written so well and with so much care that it doesn’t come across as pitiable. It’s simply a facet of Shai Madhur, rather than making the entire character a caricature of “disabled person”. Not only that but Haroun is blind, and it never is written as though this is something that needs to be fixed. It’s simply normal, as is all the other disability representation, the queer representation and sex positivity.”

–From AL Mountain via Indie Writers Collective